Tyer Rubber Company: Difference between revisions

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'''Tyer Rubber Company'''
'''Tyer Rubber Company'''
<ol>Lewis and Main Streets</ol> <br>
 
In 1856 Henry G. Tyer established a factory to produce rubber cement in some of the Boston and  Maine Railroad buildings. He began to make rubber shoes and moved into a larger structure.  After obtaining a patent for combining zinc oxide with the rubber, he began to produce water bottles, syringes, rubber bands, and pharmaceutical items.The company pioneered inflatable bladders for footballs and rubber centers for baseball and golf balls. They also invented a process known as "hotcure" which was used to make rubber pontoons and reconnaissance boats during World War II. After he died in 1881, his son inherited the business and began making automobile tires in 1909. In 1922 the Tyer Rubber stopped manufacturing tires and returned to making rubber footwareIt later became a division of the Converse Corporation.
In 1855 (1856) Henry G. Tyler began to make rubber cement and overshoes called “Compos” in the Old Whipple File Building in Ballardvale. 2 years later he moved to North Main St.  After obtaining a patent for combining zinc oxide with rubber to create a white rubber, he began to produce pharmaceutical products such as syringes and bulbs under the “Tyrian” trademark.
 
When Henry G. Tyler died in 1881, his son Horace H. Tyer inherited the business. In 1912 Tyer built a large new steam-powered factory on Railroad Street to manufacture automobile tires.
 
At the turn of the century the company was one of the first to produce inflatable bladders as rubber centers for baseballs, footballs, and golf balls. By 1906 Tyer had a workforce of 500 and annual sales of a million dollars. Horace Tyer died in 1907 and in 1909 Myron H. Clark became the President of the company with Henry G. Tyer as Vice-President. In the1920’sTyer stopped making tires, and began to concentrate on player piano tubes, tobacco pouches, and rubber rolls for the paper industry.
 
During World War II, Tyer Rubber received the Army-Navy Production Award for its rubber pontoons and reconnaissance boats,  made by a new process Tyer invented called “hotcure.” By 1956 their sales were 7 million dollars per year, and they had 1100 employees. In 1961 Tyer was bought by Converse Rubber to make canvas footwear as well as hockey pucks as the sole supplier to the National Hockey League. The North Main Street buildings were razed in 1963 and 1967, replaced by public safety buildingsShoe manufacturing ended in 1977. A group of employees bought the buildings from Converse in 1978, continuing the production of rubber rolls. A year later the buildings were sold and, in 1981, the Railroad Avenue building was converted to Andover Commons, low and moderate income and elderly housing.
 
See
See
*[http://andover.mvlc.org/opac/en-US/skin/default/xml/rdetail.xml?r=926899&t=lower%20merrimack%20valley&tp=keyword&d=0&hc=8&rt=keyword ''The Lower Merrimack River Valley: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites''] R 609 Low, page 8 and page 9.
*[http://andover.mvlc.org/opac/en-US/skin/default/xml/rdetail.xml?r=926899&t=lower%20merrimack%20valley&tp=keyword&d=0&hc=8&rt=keyword ''The Lower Merrimack River Valley: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites''] R 609 Low, page 8 and page 9.

Revision as of 10:12, 28 October 2011

Tyer Rubber Company

In 1855 (1856) Henry G. Tyler began to make rubber cement and overshoes called “Compos” in the Old Whipple File Building in Ballardvale. 2 years later he moved to North Main St. After obtaining a patent for combining zinc oxide with rubber to create a white rubber, he began to produce pharmaceutical products such as syringes and bulbs under the “Tyrian” trademark.

When Henry G. Tyler died in 1881, his son Horace H. Tyer inherited the business. In 1912 Tyer built a large new steam-powered factory on Railroad Street to manufacture automobile tires.

At the turn of the century the company was one of the first to produce inflatable bladders as rubber centers for baseballs, footballs, and golf balls. By 1906 Tyer had a workforce of 500 and annual sales of a million dollars. Horace Tyer died in 1907 and in 1909 Myron H. Clark became the President of the company with Henry G. Tyer as Vice-President. In the1920’sTyer stopped making tires, and began to concentrate on player piano tubes, tobacco pouches, and rubber rolls for the paper industry.

During World War II, Tyer Rubber received the Army-Navy Production Award for its rubber pontoons and reconnaissance boats, made by a new process Tyer invented called “hotcure.” By 1956 their sales were 7 million dollars per year, and they had 1100 employees. In 1961 Tyer was bought by Converse Rubber to make canvas footwear as well as hockey pucks as the sole supplier to the National Hockey League. The North Main Street buildings were razed in 1963 and 1967, replaced by public safety buildings. Shoe manufacturing ended in 1977. A group of employees bought the buildings from Converse in 1978, continuing the production of rubber rolls. A year later the buildings were sold and, in 1981, the Railroad Avenue building was converted to Andover Commons, low and moderate income and elderly housing.

See

  • After Him You're First.(Pamphlet put out by Tyer rubber about their products during WW II.) Andover Room R 678.2 Aft (pamphlet box 4).
  • Over the Years, the Valley Has Many Firsts. Eagle Tribune, 4/4/1989, page A2.



--Eleanor 13:05, October 7, 2006 (EDT)

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